Chapter 83: The Land Of Earth’s And Land Of Wind’s Appeasement Policies
Capital City of the Land of Wind, yellow sand filled the sky.
Wearing the Kazekage’s miko robe, Rasa with dark circles under his eyes was walking through the winding corridors inside the Daimyo’s Mansion under the guidance of an attendant.
Soon he arrived at a courtyard full of birdsong and fragrant flowers.
In this city surrounded by desert, there was unexpectedly such a paradise comparable to the scenery of the Land of Fire.
In the pavilion at the center of the courtyard, bamboo curtains swayed lightly, and the gorgeously dressed Daimyo of the Land of Wind was casually tossing feed into the pond, with golden scales surging and splashing fine water lights.
“Your Excellency the Daimyo!” Rasa stood outside the pavilion, greeting the Daimyo.
However, after waiting for a long time, the Daimyo behind the bamboo curtain did not turn around, nor did he speak; only the sound of fish feeding was clearly audible.
Only after the feed was exhausted did the Daimyo of the Land of Wind slowly turn his head and say with feigned surprise, “Oh, Lord Kazekage is here. Why didn’t you say so earlier? Come in quickly. Look at you, covered in dust from the journey.”
The folding fan in the Daimyo’s hand snapped open, covering half of his face that seemed to be smiling yet not.
This deliberate teasing of Rasa, though it made Rasa somewhat unhappy inside, he could only suppress his displeasure and enter the pavilion, sitting opposite the Daimyo of the Land of Wind.
The Daimyo, however, acted as if nothing had happened, calling over two maids to pour a cup of tea for Rasa.
Speaking of which, the national structure in the Hokage world is very strange. Ninjas possess extraordinary power yet accept employment from countries like mercenaries.
Moreover, the appointment of the Kage and leaders of ninja villages requires the Daimyo’s approval.
For example, after the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi died, Danzō and Tsunade both went to the Capital City of the Land of Fire when competing for the position of Fifth Hokage, seeking the Daimyo’s support.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind even held the economic lifeline of Sand Village in his grip, often withholding funds, forcing Rasa to use Magnetic Release to pan for gold in the sand sea to subsidize the village’s economy.
The leaders of ninja villages, even the Kage, have a subtle relationship with the Daimyo that is both like superiors and subordinates and like allies.
From the Warring States period onward, ninja clans accepted employment from countries and Daimyos, and this strange relationship has been maintained, deeply ingrained in people’s hearts.
Even ninjas with great power would not proactively cross this line.
But now, this line between country and ninja village, the red line between Daimyo and ninja, has been ruthlessly trampled!
“Lord Kazekage, do you know the situation in the Land of Bears?” The Daimyo of the Land of Wind picked up his teacup and took a shallow sip.
“I have already sent a team led by jonin from the village to reconnoiter…” Rasa was not good at lying and simply reported the recent situation truthfully: “However, there has been no news for a long time.”
“Look at this tea; it’s top-quality tea from the Land of Demons. Now with the rebellion in the Land of Bears, even the tea has risen quite a bit in silver taels.” The Daimyo of the Land of Wind spoke pointedly.
Rasa did not understand the Daimyo’s words and simply remained silent.
Seeing this, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind felt somewhat helpless toward Rasa’s blockhead, fiddling with the fan in his hand, and slowly revealed the real purpose of summoning Rasa this time.
“If we need to suppress the rebellion in Hoshigakure, how many ninjas would be required?”
The Star Ninja rebellion in the Land of Bears had spread throughout the ninja world, and the surrounding small countries were all on edge, with the Daimyos and nobles of the Land of Earth and Land of Wind also fearing that this ‘trend’ would spread.
Rasa analyzed the situation: “If we launch a war against Hoshigakure in the Land of Bears, we must prepare for the intervention of Stone Village in the Land of Earth, and our Sand Village has not yet recovered from the last great war, so I’m afraid it will be difficult…”
The last ninja world war was triggered by the disappearance of the Third Kazekage and Stone Village taking the opportunity to invade.
Rasa’s mention of the possibility of Stone Village in the Land of Earth intervening made the Daimyo feel pained.
He recalled the last war, in which the Land of Wind lost badly. To cease war with the surrounding countries, the Land of Wind paid a lot of silver taels, all of which came from the Daimyo’s Mansion.
“Can’t we just send a few powerful ninjas to capture the leaders of the rebel ninjas?” The Daimyo of the Land of Wind opened and closed the folding fan in his hand.
Rasa shook his head: “Sorry, Your Excellency, lacking intelligence, we don’t even know who the leaders of these rogue ninjas are.”
Yakura’s team had lost contact for several days already, probably more ill than well. Sand Village was seriously short of intelligence and top-tier combat power, and Rasa really did not want to fight this war.
Most importantly, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had not mentioned any financial support for Sand Village from beginning to end!
This was the point that dissatisfied Rasa the most—wanting Sand Village to go to war but not giving money?!
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind became entangled.
Although the Daimyo of the Land of Bears was dead and many nobles had been killed, it really had nothing to do with him, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind.
It was merely an instinctive aversion to the rebellion in Hoshigakure as fellow Daimyos.
But to really spend his own money to put down the rebellion in the Land of Bears? The stingy Daimyo of the Land of Wind would not pay that money.
Moreover, if the Land of Wind sent ninjas to intervene in the Land of Bears, it would definitely provoke a reaction from the Land of Earth.
The Third Great Ninja War had just ended not long ago, and they hadn’t even had a few days of rest and recuperation—another war?
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind felt heartbroken over his money.
In the end, this meeting ended without result; the Daimyo of the Land of Wind only asked Sand Village to pay attention to the situation in the Land of Bears.
Those rogue ninjas could mess around in the Land of Bears however they wanted, as long as they didn’t cause trouble in the Land of Wind.
The same situation occurred in the Land of Earth.
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth summoned the Third Tsuchikage Onoki of Stone Village to discuss handling the rebellion in Hoshigakure of the Land of Bears.
Similarly, because the dispatched ninja team had not returned for a long time, Onoki did not want to get involved in the quagmire of the Land of Bears, lest Sand Village of the Land of Wind take advantage.
In the last great war, ten thousand Stone ninjas surrounded the Third Raiden, but paid a heavy price to exhaust that reckless man’s chakra.
Stone Village also did not want to fight a war lacking intelligence.
The Land of Earth and Land of Wind, which bordered the Land of Bears, did not want to go to war, so the two countries only sealed their borders.
The two major ninja villages sent a small number of ninjas to garrison the borders with the Land of Bears, strengthening border patrols, and occasionally having friction and small-scale battles with Star Ninjas on the borderline.
In this way, under the appeasement policy of the two major countries, time gradually came to the 55th year of the Konoha calendar.
The ninja world was still not peaceful.
——————
Konohagakure.
At the beginning of the New Year, Menma sat bored on the veranda looking at the night sky.
Occasionally, some fireworks streaked across the sky and bloomed, dotting the night sky.
Next to Menma was also a fruit plate containing various candies, fruits, and other snacks.
The little Nine-Tails lay beside the fruit plate, holding a large biscuit in his hand and about to take a bite, when he suddenly sensed something and quickly jumped into Menma’s collar.
“Come out, I see you.” Menma slightly turned his head and looked toward a shadow on the courtyard wall.
Naruto grinned and walked out from the shadow, jumping from the courtyard wall into the courtyard.
Although Naruto was only four years old, his physical fitness was even higher than that of ordinary people; not only could he leap up several stories in one jump, but he also knew some simple throwing techniques and ninjutsu.
“Menma bro, it’s… New Year, I… I want to say…” Naruto stood in the courtyard, scratching the back of his head, somewhat stammering.
Looking at little Naruto’s appearance that could not hide his excitement and awkwardness, Menma smiled.
“Happy New Year, Naruto.”
Menma patted the spot beside him, inviting Naruto to sit.
Naruto, experiencing his first New Year with company, grinned broadly, sat on the veranda, watched the twinkling fireworks in the night sky, and felt a happiness he had never experienced before.
